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This year’s Tri-Valley Veterans Day parade on Pleasanton’s Main Street today is going to the dogs, literally.
With a theme of “Dogs that serve,” the parade will honor veteran K9s, including Coal, an improvised explosive device (IED) detector dog that served three tours in Afghanistan with Marine units. “Sergeant” Coal and his handler, retired Marine Corporal Patrick (Gus) Steuber, will lead the parade as grand marshalls.
The 19th Tri-Valley parade will feature more than 100 marching, walking and motorized units to make it the largest observance in Northern California.
Pleasanton’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6298 and American Legion Post 237 will host the parade that will start at 1 p.m. with a patriotic program of music and messages following at the Veterans Memorial Building.
The event is being held ahead of the actual Nov. 11 holiday, a tradition for the Pleasanton observance so that veterans can join in other celebrations on Nov. 11. Other cities, including San Francisco and San Jose, will hold parades on Nov. 11.
The Pleasanton parade will feature military and veteran color guards, horses, jeeps, Humvees and other military vehicles. Marching along the way also will be Girl Scout and Boy Scout organizations, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Posse, Golden Gate Garrison Star Wars Storm Troopers, elected officials from Tri-Valley cities and veterans from Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea and even World War II.
The U.S. Army’s 191st band and the Dublin High School band will march in the parade, along with the Scottish Bagpipe Band and the Young American Patriots Fife and Drum Corps.
Immediately following the parades, the veterans groups will host a Veterans Day ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Building at 301 Main St. with patriotic music to be provided by the Pleasanton Community Band.
After service in Afghanistan, Coal’s K9 handler Steuber learned the dog also was going to be retired. He was successful in adopting the work dog, who has been with Steuber ever since.
Steuber meet Coal in June 2010 during training with the Second Battalion 1st Marine Regiment to become an IED detector dog handler. They were deployed together to Afghanistan four months later, where Coal worked out in front of Marne patrols sniffing for IEDs.
As a minor protest I will not be attending this years “Veterans Day” part rade. If Pleasanton really cared about its veterans it would hold the veterans celebration on Veteran’s Day not some random day that’s more convenient for the merchants. While we hate to be an inconvenience, we are Pleasanton veterans not Dublin, San Ramon or Danville. We would prefer to be recognized by our home town on the day.
Understandable. But I’m glad it’s on a day where I and my family can be together to honor our vets. Glad it’s on the weekend
The vets deserve our support regardless of what day its on!! There are far bigger issues to worry about than this!
The parade doesn’t need to be on the actual day of the holiday, especially if it’s not generally a day off for folks. As a veteran, I’m honored that Pleasanton is having a parade, and having the parade on a day that allows attendance by most adults and children is wonderful.
AlamedaCountyNative, I think your indignation is misplaced.
It would be great if Obama gave all of us the day off, with pay, on the actual date of Veterans Day, and we could all celebrate together, but life just isn’t that grand. Our vets are, (should be) honored in our hearts every day. I wouldn’t think of missing the Parade on Sunday. We have a dear friend who is 100 years old, served 20 years, saw 2 wars, and is the most patriotic guy we know. He will not be at the parade on Sunday, yet we honor him. A salute to all our vets. God bless you all. There are no words of praise good enough for all you have done, and all that you stand for. Especially these days, we should all try harder to be deserving of it.
That’s the spirit – Wanting the parade only to be for Pleasanton because…? If you served together with soldiers from many communities all across the U.S – can’t you celebrate together!
Not all vets that serve and volunteer in Pleasanton are from Pleasanton, we donot want to be elimanited from volunteering with our Veteran friends just because we are from another City. I was part of the parade and enjoyed the team effort we had with my fellow Veterans and patriotic participants.
Thank you Pleasanton